HR questions Set 2

1) For me leadership is an amalgamation of communication skills, decisiveness and empathy. It

is the first and foremost duty of the leader to ensure smooth flow of information in a group
to bring out its best which necessitates that the leader himself is a communicator.
Communication is not to be confused with public speaking which although important is not
an integral part of communication. Being a good communicator in the context is the ability
of the leader to effectively engage with each and every team member and resolve conflicts
as and when they arise.
However, at times the differences between the team members may be large and that’s
where comes the role of decisiveness of the leader. The leader often needs to take tough
decisions which may even be against the will of the majority but for the benefit of all.
Leader’s decisions are the ones which decide the fate of the team.
For long, leader as a term has been perceived as reflective as a bossy kind of personality
whose work is to simply instruct the team members to perform tasks and maintain
strictness. However, people have now recognized that humility is a prerequisite for
leadership. A good leader needs to empathize with the concerns of the team members so
as to build a culture of respect for each other in the team.

2) There have been multiple instances in my life where I had to work under pressure and
complete the tasks assigned within stringent deadlines. The most significant of them is as
follows:
The incident dates back to the second year of my graduation when I was the Vice- President
of my college Debating Society. For our annual event, I proposed the idea to organize a
Parliamentary Debate for the first time. Since, the college had no prior experience in the
organization of such a large event, most of the team including the teacher-in- charge found
the idea to be highly risky and there was huge backlash. Fortunately, after much requests
and persuasion, the teacher-in-charge sanctioned the event on my assurance and the
preparations started.
The major responsibility fell on my shoulders and that of the secretary as the president has
to go out for some urgent personal work. It was challenging specially because we were
bound by the constraints of time (just 15 days for preparation), money (constrained by just
Rs. 30,000 of society fund and our ability to collect sponsorship in such a short span) and
people. However, our biggest challenge was to make the team enthusiastic and train them
with the required skills for an event they were reluctant for.
Since, the current team size was not enough we also needed to recruit. We started by
organizing a mock debate for the college to grab the interest of students and then invited
applications for volunteers promising them a certificate and a great learning experience. The
team after going through 3 days of rigorous training was assigned different tasks like
sponsorship collection, social media promotion and logistics. The process was not easy and
we had to learn new thing at every point. At one time, the committee even decided to
cancel the event, but it was averted as we had already promised the sponsors.
The team worked hard throughout the process, and on the D-day, apart from minute
glitches, the event went out smoothly. With this, our college became 10 th in India to ever
organize a Hindi Parliamentary Debate and the legacy still continues in the name of
‘Vaichariki 3.0’ with its 3rd edition coming this year.
3) Although there are a multitude of factors which motivate me to do a good job, the most
important of them all are: job satisfaction, future growth opportunities and work
culture/environment.
The job satisfaction comes from the factor whether the job at hand is in sync with my
interests or not. The greater the match with my interest, greater is the level of my
dedication for it and hence greater the motivation to do more, to do better.
However, interest in itself is not enough. Unless, I am assured that the job at hand paves
my path for future growth opportunities, I am not motivated enough to execute it with due
diligence. This growth is not just monetary in terms of salary but also in terms of the
learnings that one gets and the responsibilities assigned.
The external factor influencing my motivation is the culture/ environment of the workplace
which plays a key role in determining my mindset, my productivity at work and hence my
motivation.

4) My ideal company and job would be one which provides me with all the three factors
(described above) which motivate me to work i.e. its work profile is in sync with my
interests, it provides sufficient future growth opportunities and has a healthy work
environment.
I had lived my life in a diverse background in some of the smallest villages (including my
native place) and the metropolitan cities (Delhi). Thus, I do not constrain myself with the
demand of a location and believe in adapting to the environment of the location assigned.

5) I became a member of my college Placement Cell during third year of graduation. Not being
in those top 10 institutes of Delhi University served as a disadvantage for us. Placement Cell
was just in its 3rd year post formation and hence few companies visited the campus for
placements. There were very few students who even set for the placement as most went
for post- graduation or civil services. But this harmed those who seriously wanted campus
placements.
It was then that I along with 4 other members suggested the idea of forming a group/cartel
of DU colleges who were in similar conditions as ours who could then approach the
recruiters together as a group. We started contacting the placement cells of such colleges
and invited them to form a formal group of placement cells. I was appointed as the leader
by the college placement cell for executing this particular task.
In our effort to group 15 college placement cells, we were able to gather only 9 into the fold
and this group was named as Sambandh. We then started approaching recruiters together
who were now willing to recruit more considering a larger pool of talent. The placement
drives used to be organized at one of the colleges where students from other colleges in the
group were allowed to participate. Consequently, we were successful in increasing
placements by 1.5 times from 15 students to 38.

6) It was during the applications for the placement cell of IIM Kozhikode,
whereby I left during the process thinking that this is not my cup of tea.
However, I now think that I could have gone ahead with that.
7) My great hold on communication skills, adaptability and deep understanding
of human behaviour & society make me stand out of the crowd.
I was the Vice-President of my college debating society and till now have won
more than 5 national and 8 state level debates. I was also engaged in multiple
tasks during my college and internship which required corporate interaction
including collection of sponsorship. Approaching and convincing Exide for
sponsorship for our First Parliamentary Debate is one of my most memorable
experiences.
My journey has been highly diverse from living in some of the smallest villages
(including my native) to some of the largest metropolitans. The same is true for
my academics from taking PCM in 12th to bachelors in economics and now
MBA. This diverse experience has made me highly adaptable to situations
rather than complaining and has allowed me to appreciate diversity.
My diverse background and engagement with debating society has given me
an alternative viewpoint and has allowed me to deep dive into the human
behaviour.

8) Fortunately, there was no such instance in my life.

9) The toughest decision I had to make was choosing to go to Kota for IIT-JEE coaching for
my career and choosing to stay at home for taking care of my parents who were alone. The
dilemma was tough and my mind was filled with every kind of possibility but I chose the
later.

10) No